Best way to tackle a huge briar patch?

[Little Weed]

Hello! One corner of my new, overgrown allotment has a patch of briars seven feet high, about 10 feet in depth (at thickest point) and spreading about 25 feet or more in length. It's a bit daunting - I might fall in and never get out as I'm not quite 5 foot three! What's the best way to tackle it ? (There's also lots of briar on the rest of the plot, but I can pull and dig that out.)

[Little Weed]

[tim k]

get your self a thick boiler suit or jeans and a wax  jacket (as i use ) with gloves and hire a full face mask and a brush cutter it takes minutes and its good fun too ;)

or maybee napalm ;D

atb

tim

[keef]

Start chopping off the big bits with long handled secatares / hedge cutters, bit by bit until its more manageable ? Perhaps post a photo ? We can see what your new plot is like then  :)

[Little Weed]

Well, Keef, this is my allotment. The briar patch is behind the dodgy shed - if you look carefully, you can see a bit of it in profile, rising as a straight topped wedge behind the shed. It's not a big allotment, but there's plenty to keep a few people busy for a while! What do you think?

[keef]

Do you mean your avatar, have you just added it ? or am i completely blind ?

Lots of compost making stuff ;D Keep at it ! - does'nt look to bad to clear. Tim K is right, if you can get a brush cutter it'll take no time to clear, be careful though they're a bit leathal.

[Deb P]

I had a very similar problem when I started on my new plot about 6 weeks ago. The briar patch had grown through the frame of the greenhouse at the back of the plot, it was difficult to see what was there!

Solution: two children let loose with secataurs, saws and thorn proof gloves wearing sunglasses (very matrix like 8)), lots of 'Hiiiiii Ya!" noises as they demolished the lot in about an hour! Bribed with the promise of tea at the local bus cafe, they had fun, helped clear the lot, and just left aged parents to dig out the stumps and roots, which was NOT so much fun.

[bennettsleg]

I heard tell that brambles don't like having their roots disturbed and will conveniently pop-off into the bramble afterlife, and that proper use of Root Out in it's granular form (carefully applied with a combination of plastic and string to keep the granules in) will do for the monsters too. 

Two years of this advice later and my garden at home still has brambles on the party line with the neighbours. Cut, dig, cut, dig, poison, poison, poison. They will not die and are the cockroaches of the gardening world...  >:( ;)

[saddad]

Yes but even cockroaches can be squished...
I like the Napalm idea myself!!!
8)

[Robert_Brenchley]

They don't just pop off into whatever hell awaits them, but persistent pulling, combined with digging out whenever the opportunity offers, will get there eventually. If you don't want to use chemicals, let them die the death of a thousand cuts.

[ThomsonAS]

Set aside a decent block of time to tackle it - and prepare properly (whether it's a full chemical warfare suit and van or  just gloves, seccateurs and a clear car boot) and attack.

Then wage a war of attrition (every time you're there, leave it smaller and weaker than it was when you arrived).  I fould the occasional bonfire of debris quite theraputic.

And when you're down to stumps, dig and (unless you're organic) chemically castrate it!

good luck

[Little Weed]

Thanks for the advice. We have now slashed the bramble down as far as the edge of the plot. It continues through the end of the hedge and into rough ground at the edge of a stream behind, so it will keep coming back. The roots are so thick and dense they are very hard ro dig into. Can you recommend something effective but not longlasting in the soil to knock them back a bit? (Not that I ever expect to defeat them of course.)  ;)

[saddad]

Amcide is the best stuff... used by the forestry commission... takes about 6 months to break down though... can get it through grow organic (Chase) cat. it does work if applied to cut stems or roots...
:)

[bunjies]

sheep! but possibly not entirely practical ;)
my sis asked me if i would help her clear a part of her garden of brambles and nettles, me being the generous person i am said 'er no, borrow the ewe lambs for a couple of weeks instead.'
erected the hurdles, added a large bucket for water and let them at it.
3 weeks later 6 lambs (about 5 months old) had levelled it! not a bramble to be seen!! this year the nettles have come back, but no brambles! hurrah!
the erecting of the hurdles and the filling in of appropriate paper work was much less hassle than digging the darn things out by hand, AND entirely enviromentally friendly AND fertilised the ground at the same time! bonus!
sheep are the answer to most things ;D

[saddad]

I knew pigs would clear anything... having seen them in action as a youth. Chickens work well on anything they don't want to nest in/under...
8)